Junior Pirates swashbuckled way through 4AAAABy Jared Iverson Magee For The Courier Refuse to lose. That was the unofficial motto for the Dover Pirates' Junior boys basketball team, and that's exactly what they did. Led by coach Michael Bollman, the Pirates were co-conference champions, sharing the title with Clinton, and even more impressively, they brought home a district championship - a first in Dover boys' basketball history. The road to the top was not easy for the Pirates. Last ye...

East Lady Whirlwinds fall to BryantBy Quinton Bagley Sports Editor No matter what level a team plays at - be it junior high, senior high, college or pro - only one team can end the season the way it wants at its respective level. Despite all the success during the season and the number of accolades they receive, only one team can end the season with a win. Unfortunately for the Russellville Junior High East Lady Whirlwinds, their season ended Saturday with a 32-22 loss to Bryan...

Lamar's Jr. ladies beat CharlestonCourier Sports Staff LAMAR - The Junior Lady Warriors remained undefeated in 4AAA Conference play Monday night after a 25-19 win over Charleston. Lamar (18-2, 11-0 4AAA) outscored the Junior Lady Tigers 6-2 in the first. In the second, Lamar continued to build its lead as it outscored Charleston 7-6 to take a 13-8 lead into the break. It was much the same in the third as the Junior Lady Warriors added seven more points to their total while hol...

RJHS West takes 2 from Conway BlueBy Laura Eppes For The Courier Russellville West claimed two victories Thursday night against the Conway Blue Junior Wampus Cats. The West Lady Whirlwinds defeated the Junior Lady Wampus Cats 30-20, and the West Whirlwinds beat Conway 25-23, at Whirlwind Gymnasium in Russellville. It was a slow start for the West 'Winds (4-7, 2-4) as Conway won possession at the tip off, and scored the first two points on free throws at 5:05 in the first perio...

East vs. West: RJHS faces offQuinton Bagley Assistant Sports Editor One last game before the Christmas break was on the schedule for both RJHS East and West on Tuesday night as the two teams faced off in Whirlwind Gymnasium. The Lady Whirlwind game was a nail-bitter down to the final buzzer as the West Lady Whirlwinds came away with the 24-23 victory. The East Lady Whirlwinds (4-7, 0-4 Central Arkansas Jr. High Conference) jumped out to an early lead outscoring the West L...

Whirlwind Tournament tips off MondayCourier sports staff Eight games are scheduled for Monday to open the Whirlwind basketball tournament. Games are scheduled to begin at 4:15 p.m. and will be split between the RJHS gymnasium and Cyclone Gymnasium. The double-elimination tournament's Monday schedule includes four girls' games and four boys' games. Games scheduled Monday at RJHS Whirlwind Gymnasium are: Conway Blue girls vs. Cabot South girls at 4:15 p.m., Conway Blue boys vs. Cl...

RJHS East wins conference tourneyQuinton Bagley Assistant Sports Editor Russellville East Lady Whirlwind volleyball coach Cindy Williams was ecstatic Saturday as her girls outscored an undefeated Mount St. Mary's team 2-0 with scores of 25-23, 25-21 to claim the Central Arkansas Conference tournament championship in Sheridan. In the first game, Laura Brown had three points and one ace. In the second game Courtney Coulter had five points and Kia Byrd had three points. For the ...

Smith's late TD lifts East 'WindsQuinton Bagley Assistant Sports Editor An unlikely hero emerged Thursday night as the Russellville East Whirlwinds defeated the Conway Blue Wampus Kittens 20-14 at Cyclone Stadium. With just over four minutes to play in the ball game and the game tied at 14 apiece, things turned ugly for the Russellville East Whirlwinds as they were driving for the go-ahead score. On fourth and six, East 'Wind quarterback Blake Robinson took off down the right...

RJHS West gets much-needed winQuinton Bagley Assistant Sports Editor Russellville's West Whirlwinds (2-4, 1-3) got a much-needed win Thursday night as they defeated the Vilonia junior Eagles 27-16 at Cyclone Stadium. After taking a 13-0 lead into the locker room, the West 'Winds were looking to increase their lead in the third quarter. It didn't take them very long to do just that as West 'Wind Averian Collins took the kickoff back 87 yards for the score. The 2-point attem...

Jr. Sand Lizards come up just short against ClintonCourier sports staff The Dardanelle Junior Sand Lizards made a late push Thursday, but it wasn't enough to keep their perfect record intact. Dardanelle was held scoreless until the game's final 3 minutes and fell to Clinton 12-8 in a battle of unbeatens at Keenan Field. Trailing 12-0 with 2:28 remaining, the Junior Sand Lizards finally got on the board ater a 1-yard sneak by quarterback Quayd Standridge, who then hooked up with Austin Brown fo...

RJHS East, West split volleyball matchesCourier sports staff The Russellville East and West ninth-grade volleyball teams split a pair of matches with Greenbrier and Vilonia on Monday. The East moved to 8-1 in conference play Monday with a convincing 25-5, 25-15 victory over Greenbrier. Laura "Bull" Brown was nearly unstoppable in game 1 with 18 points, including 17 consecutive at one point. She finished the game with four aces. Taylor Eshnaur had eight points in game 2, including th...

Cabot pulls away late for 32-12 win over RJHS WestBy Quinton Bagley Assistant Sports Editor Russellville's West Whirlwinds (1-3) weren't quite as blustery Thursday night as they hosted the Cabot North Junior Panthers (4-0) at Cyclone Stadium. Cabot, with its "T" offense, ran all over the West 'Winds to the tune of 32-12. "This was a heck of a ballgame," Russellville West coach Josh Edgin said. "Our kids gave tremendous effort all night. We just didn't get the job done when we needed too." As ...

East, West Lady Gales earn split with ViloniaCourier sports staff Russellville Junior High's seventh-grade volleyball teams hosted Vilonia on Wednesday, splitting four matches with the visitors. The East and West seventh-graders swept both 'B' matches but lost both 'A' matches. The East won their 'B' match 25-17, 25-18, while the West won theirs 25-20, 26-24. Vilonia took the 'A' matches 25-15, 23-25, 15-10 over the East and 25-20, 25-20 over the West. East and West also faced off earlie...

Local sports briefsCourier sports staff West 7th-graders go 1-3 in Conway The Russellville West seventh-grade volleyball team traveled to Conway on Monday and came away with a 1-3 finish against Bob Courtway and Carl Stuart middle schools. The Lady Gales lost both the 'A' and 'B' matches against Bob Courtway. The Lady Kittens won the 'B' match 25-17, 25-16 and the 'A' match 25-16, 25-22. The Lady Gales picked up their lone victory against Carl Stuart, winning th...

Russellville East keeps on rollingCourier sports staff The Russellville Junior High East volleyball team continued its winning ways Tuesday, picking up a pair of victories over Van Buren Coleman and Van Buren Butterfield. The East Lady 'Winds (6-1) defeated Coleman 25-14, 25-19 before taking down Butterfield -- which knocked Russellville East out of the Lady Whirlwind Invitational last Saturday -- 26-24, 25-20. Kelsey White paced the Lady Whirlwinds in the first game against C...

RJHS East falls in semis of Lady Whirlwind InvitationalBy Mark Burke Assistant Sports Editor Russellville Junior High East volleyball coach Cindy Williams has been pleased with what she's seen from her Lady Whirlwind squad so far. That includes Saturday during the Lady Whirlwind Invitational at Whirlwind Gymnasium. The East -- which is currently atop the standings in the Central Arkansas Junior High Conference North Division -- reached the semifinals of tournament play after breezing through pool ...

RJHS West nipped 20-14 by Bryant; West falls 25-12By Mark Burke Assistant Sports Editor Close once again. The heartbreaking-loss trend continued for Russellville East on Thursday night, as the Whirlwinds fell 20-14 to Bryant at Cyclone Stadium. The loss came just over a week after the East (0-2) dropped a 27-26 decision to Van Buren Coleman in its season opener. Coleman erased a double-digit deficit and scored the winning touchdown with just 5:16 to play. This time around, the Junior Hornets ...

RJHS West opens season with shutoutCourier sports staff The Russellville Junior High West Whirlwinds offense scored 21 points, and the defense didn't allow any. That combination gave the 'Winds (1-0) a 21-0 shutout win over Van Buren Butterfield on the road to open the season. Barrett Hughes was 7 of 10 passing for 210 yards and tossed a pair of touchdowns to help pace the West's scoring. His first was a 24-yard strike to Matt Lutz in the third quarter to give the Whirlwinds a ...

Russellville East falls 27-26 to Van Buren ColemanBy Mark Burke Assistant Sports Editor The Russellville East football team turned in a strong offensive performance Tuesday night in the season opener against Van Buren Coleman at Cyclone Stadium, much to the approval of Whirlwinds coach Rick Correia. However, the Cougars found themselves on the fortunate end of a couple late breaks and stole a 27-26 win from the East 'Winds. "We played hard and never gave up," Correia said. "We played a real g...

East tops West in battle of RJHSCourier sports staff Russellville East got the better of its Russellville Junior High counterpart Monday in volleyball action, as the East Lady Whirlwinds picked up victories of Russellville West in both the ninth- and eighth-grade matches at the RJHS gymnasium. The East defeated the West Lady 'Winds 25-23, 25-15, while the eighth-grade East girls won 25-16, 25-11 in the season opener for both teams. Courtney Coulter helped Russellville East e...